The Extra Ghost
by TheSilentChloey
Summary: When an unknown young man stumbles into Alphonse from a differant world, what happens when he is forced to become a claymore? Rated M for suggestive scenes and Helen's potty mouth
1. Chapter 1: A Man out of Place

Seto ran, hard and fast, his breathing was stressed and he knew that he didn't want to get caught by whatever the monster was. He didn't bother looking behind him, he didn't want to see the destruction. He was lost and he didn't where he was going. Fear was a lovely emotion. He had to keep running, but the monster was gaining on him, its gold catlike eyes glowing with anticipation, that its hunger would be satisfied, he fell. He was injured, badly and the monster was savouring its victory, as it went to eat him, when a large broadsword slashed through its head. Seto gasped in shock, and the world went black. The last thing he knew was that he was bleeding, though he didn't know where from and that it was unbearably cold. This wasn't home, this was a foreign place, and he had no idea how he was supposed to get back.

Miria had spent days trying to track the yoma and she had felt a spike in its yoki, and she ran and killed it. A human was on the ground, but he wasn't moving, and he was dressed in strange clothing. He was badly injured, and if he weren't treated soon, he would die. Carefully Miria turned him over, he had a few scratches and bruises, however on closer inspection a large wound in his thigh was the main cause of the bleeding, and she wondered how the hell he'd made it through Alphonse with so little clothing, if he didn't bleed to death, he would freeze to death, unless…she know there would be a risk, making him a male half yoma…but it wasn't like there were a lot of options. If she made him half yoma, he would live, but he might awaken…she weighed all of her options and decided that she would do it. She would make him half yoma, using the yoma she had just killed. Miria used her cloak to make bandages, and wrapped his wounds, she made sure to grab a fair amount of yoma flesh. She bundled up the flesh and carried the half-dead human to a cave. She then set about the tasks necessary to change him.

Seto woke to a fire within his body that burned and damn near threatened to kill him, he knew one thing, he didn't want to die, he didn't care how long he burned, and he didn't want to die. He was too weak to scream, or else he'd be screaming his lungs out. Someone, or something had saved him from the monster. He could feel a damp cloth on his forehead, and was vaguely aware of a woman gently dabbing him with a damp cloth. Every so often, she gave him something that tasted like water, but it had a slight flavour, like a broth. Seto slowly slid into unconsciousness, his last thought was wondering when the pain was going to end.

Miria kept a constant watch on the young human, she hadn't told the others what it was she was hiding just yet, in case Clare jumped the gun and thought it might be Raki before Miria would have any time at all to explain that he lacked the scar that Raki had on his face. She would hide him until he either awakened or was complete. She felt slightly daunted with the prospect that she could have the first male warrior in almost half a century, a thought that made her wonder what might be…if he was strong, and he could control his yoki, they might have the power that they needed to take down the Organization! Miria trembled, but kept herself devoid of emotion, only time would tell what he would become. She had fed him a broth, which he managed to drink a fair bit of, before he settled. Miria wondered if the raw yoma was already affecting him, but she could see no changes yet.

Time passed strangely to Seto, the pain continued, but as he slowly recovered, he knew one thing, whoever it was that was sitting beside him was definitely a woman, her hair was long, pale blond and he could smell what he believed was wildflowers. He didn't know where the hell he was, nor did he know what time it was. Seto knew that something had changed, when his brown hair slowly changed to blond. He had no idea what was happening, but as his hair slowly went blond, he swore that he could hear beyond the room that he was in. He could hear six female voices, all complaining about being bored and wanting to go out hunting. A strong female voice spoke, close to Seto,

"Come now, if you're going out, please avoid unnecessary fights." Her voice was strong, authoritative, clearly, she was in command here. _So that makes it seven_, he thought.

"Sure Big Sis," Someone replied, she sounded like a trouble maker, '_perhaps I should avoid that one_' thought Seto

"We'll keep an eye on Clare," a soft, almost trusting voice added,

"As well as Helen." A serious female spoke, the second in command perhaps?

"Deneve!" the troublemaker patronised the strong voiced one.

_So the troublemaker is called Helen, and the serious one is Deneve._ Seto committed the two names to memory,

"What about you Miria?" the serious one, Deneve asked, she was closer,

"I'll stay here," the authoritative one answered, "I trust that the six of you are smart enough to stay out of trouble, besides, after your last training session, I have a lot of mending to do."

"Alright then," said the one Seto thought of as Deneve.

He heard them leave. A scraping chair told him that whoever was next to him had gotten up, he heard something boiling, but he didn't know what it was. He sat up, pain laced through his body. He looked and almost gasped in horror. It looked like he'd busted his left leg, a bandage neatly bound around his thigh was evidence enough for him. He tried to get up, and gasped in pain, loudly. A woman was in the room at once,

"You need to rest, your injuries could have killed you." she said.

Seto gaped, her hair was a pale blond, with her bangs being shaggy and razor cut. It would have been fine, but her eyes were silver, not the blue that he was expecting. Pain rushed through him, and it had nothing to do with the cut on his leg. He forced himself up again,

"Where am I?" he asked,

"Alphonse, the land of snow and ice." She replied, "You've been unconscious for three days, and as of yesterday seem to have been drifting in and out."

Seto realised that he'd never heard of 'Alphonse'.

"I have to get back…I…" Seto shut his mouth, "I still don't understand."

The blond sighed, she was sewing leather together,

"You are in Alphonse, your clothing is strange, by my guess you belong south, but a human on their own spells only one fate here and that is death. I have a hunch, but let's see to it you get better first."

He looked down, there was a cut down his chest, it looked horrible and sickening, and he looked away,

"I don't know where this is…my home certainly is warmer, but the monster that was chasing me…"

"A yoma, was what was chasing you." She said calmly,

"Alright, the yoma that was chasing me, shouldn't be real. Where I live there is a stack load better technology and such beings…" Seto went to start

"Exist where you are now. I doubt very much that you can return to you old life, you will have to forge a new one, one of a fugitive." She leant back and looked at her handiwork, she was skilled, better than any sewing machine.

"How long have you been here?" He asked,

"Half a year now," She replied, "we have much to hide, especially you."

Seto blinked and asked why, she sighed and told him how things were. Seto had never heard such horrible things, not even the spasms that ran through his body worried him as much anymore. He realised that the spasms were what was now a part of him, he knew what she'd been forced to do in order to save his life.

Half a day passed and Miria had eight outfits made. She made Seto something so that he wouldn't stand out like a sore thumb. She also made cloaks and straps to hold swords.

She remembered learning his name,

"I'm Seto," He'd said, "I am grateful that you risked your life to save mine…"

"I have no need for thanks." She replied,

"Could I at least know your name?" He asked, pleadingly,

"I'm called Miria," She sighed.

And since then, he insisted on calling her by her name, which meant nothing to her. By the time he'd been a week with them, since Miria had found him in the snow drifts, Seto proved to be a valuable addition, although Tabitha seemed to hate him, for no apparent reason. Miria ignored that and pushed the girls to train hard. It was clear that Seto would need a sword, and Miria half wondered if she could replace a grave marker, she knew that she would have to do something, so she quietly slipped away, for not the first time, leaving Seto with the girls.

Seto was learning the art of yoki perception from Tabitha and Clare, they soon realised that he could see as far as Galatea, without really trying. Clare asked him to range out, with Seto being vaguely aware of where Dark Alicia was. Clare and Tabitha looked at each other, Seto housed a great monster, so they were naturally worried. They would be glad when Miria returned, they had much to tell her already. Seto quietly waited, he had no idea why, but those two were nervous of him, despite the fact that they could kill him, easier than he could harm them.

Miria travelled quickly, she had two blades on her back. She'd found a blade lying in the snow, a symbol-less one. It was still as sharp as her own blade, and as heavy. She used the quickest way towards the others. Miria could see Clare, Tabitha and Seto, all anxious for her return. She moved swiftly over the snow, the powder flew everywhere as she raced gracefully forwards.

Seto was unable to take his eyes off her, he realised that Miria was one of those people who ran very fast. The speed was more than a normal person and Miria seemed to get a thrill from the run itself, as she moved over the snow, her yoki hidden, but not impossible to spot. Seto could sense so much in her yoki. He had learned reasonably quickly, stunning Clare and Tabitha with _how_ far he could sense. Miria would sure have quite the surprise waiting for her. He wondered what the other sword was for that she carried on her back. He hoped it wasn't for him. He didn't realise though, how important that sword would be to him. It would be a life or death matter.

Hours later, Miria was still smarting from Clare's revelation. She was surprised that he was "eyes", and Seto didn't understand what that meant until Miria spat out what the other two couldn't.

"'Eyes'," Miria explained, "are half yoma who sense yoki over distances that "normal" half yoma cannot. In short it is an ability that the Organization takes advantage of, I've never heard of male 'eyes' but that doesn't mean that it is impossible to have male 'eyes' well that will make our hiding easier, if Seto can detect at a distance. It might mean that we have a bit more room to manoeuvre, however that doesn't mean that we drop our guard. Tomorrow your training will start Seto, we can't afford a fight where other warriors or awakened beings or yoma attack you and we aren't here to help. It doesn't matter how good you can sense yoki, if you don't have some form of protection, you will suffer."

Seto looked down, Miria was right, this world that he was in was strange and unpredictable, he shuddered, and there was no way around it. He didn't have a choice, despite his best efforts. He would have to learn to fight the creatures, and fast.

A horrible storm whipped up over the mountains, and despite the weather, a young man with pale blond hair was clashing swords again and again with the pale blond haired woman. He half wondered if there would be a break in their training, she was pushing him, hard. She was pushing all of them, not just Seto, but Clare, Helen, Deneve, Cynthia, Tabitha and Yuma. She pushed herself harder than the rest of them. In the time that he had been with them, interesting things happened. Firstly, once they got used to him, most of the girls warmed up to him, Tabitha was however colder than any Alphonse wind. Clare too for that matter, but he soon discovered that Clare was always like that. Helen was too much, and Seto often found himself running to Miria for some hope of safety, to their amusement. He sparred with Miria because the others weren't as game, or had felt that he wasn't worth crossing swords with, or in Helen's case, were too tempted to try and roll in the snow with him. Miria had a lot of patience, she didn't yell at Helen, but she did make a threat, and Helen didn't like the idea of 'sewing duties' until she behaved herself. Seto was trying not to laugh at Helen's indignant expression, he wondered how Miria was immune to it, he was so close to cracking up, and he wasn't the only one. There were a few snickers, but they were too quite to tell who was doing it.

Apart from his training sessions with Miria over the blades, there were other developments that made him blush. How Miria made no sign of what _else_ they got up to, he didn't know. The cold nights were passed with his body pressed against hers. He had needed much rest as she did, so most nights they were simply pressed together, Seto marvelling at Miria's figure, and that was as far as he was willing to go. His resolve would be tested and broken however at the Alphonse hot springs.

Miria had thrown her leather outfit onto the high rocks that jutted out above the springs, she was completely naked. She lowered herself in the water, having sent the others there earlier, she was surprised that they came back at all, she figured that after almost seven years of full training they would enjoy the treat that she had discovered, barely a week ago. _Their loss._ Miria thought. She stretched out her body feeling the hot water soothe her. Miria let out a low moan of pleasure, enjoying the hot water as much as she could, knowing that she would have to savour the peace as long as it lasted. She had no doubt that Helen would soon cause trouble, and someone would come running to her. She lowered herself into the water, her hair flowed around her in the water, she could sense what was going in the cave, and she rose sharply out of the water, _Helen I am going to kill you_ Miria thought, as a commotion hit her senses. _Why does she have to insist on annoying Seto?_ Miria sighed and slowly got out of the water. Today was going to be a long one

Seto sniffed in annoyance, Helen was irritating him, and he just wished that she'd leave him to practice the technique that Clare used, the Windcutter. He quickly bolted, avoiding Helen, knowing that she was up to something, but he didn't want to know what it was.

He'd not realised that he was at the hot springs. He froze when he realised. Miria's clothing sat on the rock, he tried to force himself to turn back, but Miria was heading up the path and any minute now, she'd see him, staring like an idiot. Seto tried to force himself to move, the most he managed was to drop his head.

"Seto," Miria came over to him, "What's wrong…Helen had better not be causing trouble again,"

He heard her sigh,

"So much for a peaceful day," she shook her head.

Seto froze, _damn, she's…_ his mind stopped as he fully took her in. Miria's breasts were full, he was feeling a blush creep up his cheeks, and his eyes travelled downwards her waist was small, her hips neatly filling out to her powerful and yet shapely legs. Seto trembled and he could feel his yoki trying to respond to the desire that he felt for her, he pushed it back, but not before she noticed,

"Are you alright?" She asked him,

"I'm fine." He said abruptly, though he was shaking with desire, and he felt quite irritated with the thoughts that were running through his head about Miria, thoughts of him making her moan, thoughts of tasting her, and worse still the desire to be inside of her. He had to push his yoki back hard, Miria had warned that it was harder for a man to control his yoki than a woman, and know Seto knew why. He was pushing his yoki to suppressed, and he was trying not to shake with his unbidden desire, women didn't get much better than Miria, despite the scars on her body. The most noticeable one was on her chest, between her breasts, it was as tidy as his own was, and he couldn't help but notice that discolouration covered a fair area around it, making it look like it was dead and rotting, yet disgustingly alive. If Seto had have seen it as a human, he would have been repulsed, he would have cringed. However, he was used to staring at his own scar for hours, so he was too used to it now. There were a few scars over her shoulder, wounds that she'd long since healed. He didn't know what possessed him to touch her scar, the one between her breasts, and if you were to ask him, he wouldn't have an answer. The effect was even stranger. Miria stood still, she let him touch it, and Seto was astounded by how it felt, leathery, soft and warm, it was still living. He could feel Miria tremble, but neither knew what to do. For a moment neither moved, and then she shifted closer. Unbidden Seto's hand shifted, over her breast, slowly tracing her shoulder. He was vaguely aware of his shirt falling to the ground, he was mesmerised by Miria's body. He followed her scars, tracing them softly. He felt Miria tremble, her own hands smoothly guided him, and soon they were in the hot springs, Seto's clothes abandoned on the top of the rocky out crop above them.

Miria moaned, she felt his touch, she wanted to keep feeling it. Seven years…seven years since she met him. In those seven years they had an unspoken pact, and now, Miria didn't know if it was broken or made stronger. She moaned, her head thrown back, as his hot kisses brushed her neck, his hands making her feel pleasure that she hadn't felt since she'd come close to awakening. He moved smoothly, stroking her, stirring her, making her moan loudly, her yoki slipped, her eyes were as gold as his was. She moaned again, as his touch brought her to her knees if she was standing on them, as it was her thighs twitched open strongly from the pleasure he was making her feel, inviting him further, to make her moan louder. Thankfully the others seemed oblivious to what was going on. Miria moaned, Seto moaned with desire as their lips met. The kiss deepened and Miria felt her body arc to Seto's, she wanted him, badly. Her own desires made themselves known, and he lightly teased her some more, making her moan, but also making her a little uncharacteristically impatient. She put him on to his back and her hips pressed against his. She moaned heavily as she felt him inside of her, and his moan was deep, he felt pleasure from her. It wasn't like the pleasure that the men had taken before she was made half yoma, this was something different, and something she wanted. She moved her hips and he moaned, holding her, guiding her down. The warm water made it all the more sensual, and Miria could feel something happening, she could feel the desire building, stronger, though her yoki remained at 10%, she was intrigued, Seto's yoki also remained at 10%, his gold eyes shining with anticipation.

Soon Miria felt as if she'd fallen from a height, and a wave of pleasure surged through her body, and she wasn't the only one moaning heavily, Seto's moan was loud, and Miria half wondered why the others hadn't investigated yet. She was tired, she rested on his chest, and her eyes closing as sleep took her.

Tabitha was worried, she had felt Miria's yoki rise in a strange way, and it was frightening. Tabitha had felt her gut tremble, she wanted to feel what ever it was that Miria was enjoying, but she noticed that Seto was equally as strange as Miria in the yoki release. They went no higher than 10%, and if Tabitha listened carefully she could hear moans. She didn't know what just happened, but both of them returned to their suppressed state easily. Tabitha was shaking, confused and had no idea what had happened.

Miria woke, and she realised that the others would be worried about them. She gently woke Seto and they raced to their clothes, getting dressed quicker than a human could say twenty five million.

The girls were training again and Miria seamlessly joined in with Seto. The others didn't even notice that the two had been absent in the first place…except for Tabitha who would follow Miria everywhere if given the chance.

The warriors watched intently as Seto whipped up a windcutter that made Flora's look slow and weak in comparison. Clare felt colour drain from her face as a fierce wind blew solely from Seto's sword. Miria grinned,

"It looks like we can head south," She sounded optimistic, "We have gained all the power that we can. If you want to you can stay here in the north, I'm sure our fallen comrades won't begrudge you if you do."

"My Captain will always be you Miria, where you go I will follow," Tabitha walked forward,

"Well, it'll be no fun, and you're not the only one who wants revenge for our fallen comrades," Said Helen,

"I'll come along as well, someone needs to keep an eye on Helen." said Deneve,

"I want revenge for Veronica," Cynthia came forward,

"I know I won't be much help…but please don't cast me aside," Yuma begged,

"I have various unfinished tings left to do in the south," said Clare,

"I'm not going to stay here on my own!" Seto said calmly, "If we were to mount an attack on the Organization, count me in."

"Alright then," said Miria, "Let's go with the fallen souls of Pieta."

A few weeks of travel later and Helen wouldn't shut up.

"OH MY GOD IT'S COLOUR!" She screeched, "GOD I CAN'T GET ENOUGH OF IT!"

Seto rolled his silver eyes,

"God, I thought she'd be settled, but I guess Helen's Helen." He sighed, "I think though we could do without the yelling."

"Yeah, that's Helen," said Deneve, "She gets over excited easily."

Miria tried not to laugh at them, but a small giggle escaped, much to everyone's surprise. Miria pulled a straight face,

"Seto," she looked at him.

He knew what to do so he stood on the edge of the cliff.

"In my range I can sense a group of warriors who appear to have two single digits, to my ten o'clock." He told them.

He was vaguely aware of some conversation between the women,

"Damn it!" He yelled, "A large yoki is approaching the hunting team, and it's huge!"

The women shivered.

"It…it's Riful of the west," Clare shook,

"What the fuck!" Helen yelled, "Riful's one of the creatures of the abyss! We leave Alphonse and this is the first thing we run into!"

"One of the single digits has drawn her sword, she plans to fight." Seto reported,

"Nhhh, Helen, Deneve, Clare!" Miria yelled, "Follow me, we have to help!"

Seto felt uneasy about Miria running off like she was about to,

"Why don't we just finish this abyssal off?" He suggested, "We still save the warriors, but we take out the abyssal at the same time."

Miria looked like she wanted to kiss him!

"What are we waiting for!" Miria called, "If we're going to fight her, we might as well do so together!"

Soon all of them were rushing forwards

"Lemme go!" A young warrior yelled,

"We can't go back, Audrey and Rachel will be dead before we can get support!" The other girl yelled back,

"Yeah, well I'm going anyway!" yelled the first, shoving her elbow towards her comrade, only to realise that she had fallen to the ground,

"Who's there!" She screamed, before she was swiftly knocked out.

"Hmm, how odd," Said Riful, "It appears that the yokis of the lower warriors that were hiding have disappeared, as if their energy was disrupted some how. Oh, who are you?"

Seto stood on the body of the one they called Riful of the west. Her yoki was immense, but he wasn't afraid,

"You don't need to know…because this is where you die." Seto told her. Miria jumped up behind him and grabbed the unconscious warrior who had been skewered by the creature of the abyss. Helen used her drill sword to free the still aware single digit. Helen pulled her away,

"Wait a minute you can't just waltz off with my prey." Riful yelled,

"They just did, for the warriors own safety." Said Seto.

Riful didn't even have time to attack, the windcutter that he released was powerful and he hacked Riful apart. He jumped and rolled on his shoulders as he heard Helen's charge be stubborn,

"Who…who are you?" she cried, and then she froze as Seto came near, "What! No way, there aren't supposed to be male half yoma!"

"Well I'm here so impossible is possible." Seto glared at her, "Don't piss me off."

She cringed as the rest of her team were gently place of the ground,

"Who are you?" She asked again,

"Feel free to guess, what ever you ask, we won't answer." Miria told her, "However, we have some questions for you. We would like to know the current structure of the Organization, especially Number 1 through 5."

She looked semi amused, "If you ask me like that…do you really think I'll answer."

"I told you not to piss me off," Seto growled, "Answer the question, since a single digit wouldn't be as rude as you are being after _her life_ was saved."

The girl cringed, and she looked away. Helen snorted, half-heartedly it was quiet for a few seconds, and just when Miria thought she would speak, the warrior spoke up.

"The Number 1 and Number 2 have not changed for seven years. I am the Number 3, Audrey, and my comrade Rachel is the Number 5," the woman, Audrey, looked them in the eye, "the Number 4 is called Miata."

"I see," Said Miria, "so they are short handed. Alicia's more an issue, if she still lives, then she must be complete."

Seto looked at Audrey, she was nice enough,

"You have our thanks." he told her.

Her silver eyes regarded the group. Clare looked at Miria,

"One more question, Galatea, is she still alive?" Clare asked Audrey,

"I am the Number 3...is that answer enough for you?" she replied,

"I see, you have my thanks." Clare and the rest of the group turned to leave,

"She may still be alive," Audrey called, "the Organization said that she died fighting an awakened being, but that is a lie, during the chaos seven years ago, she simply disappeared and there wasn't anyone that could follow her."

"Thankyou, Audrey," Said Seto.

"Though this may seem insufficient to you I now consider my debt paid in full, the next time we meet I won't hesitate to turn my blade on you."

"Really," Seto smirked, "Your yoki says quite a different story."

Audrey looked away, she'd never met anyone like the male before and quite frankly, she doubted that she could even _match_ blades with him. The lead female she _might_ be able to, but even then…Audrey was sure that the lead female had an advantage over them all.

The warriors of the north headed away, their path was Rabona, though Audrey would never know that. She looked after then,

"It seems that we'd better choose sides it we want to live," She murmured to herself, "Our lives will depend on it."

Audrey decided that she would say that they didn't see what killed Riful, and that they'd completed the task, the awakened one they were supposed to kill was dead. They needed no more. Whatever Riful wanted a skilled yoki reader for would remain a mystery that Audrey had no care for. She would shut her trap…she owed the warriors as much. She would have to work out how to find out who they were without rousing suspicion, she hoped that the next time she saw them, she didn't have to turn her blade against them


	2. Chapter 2: The Yoki Wave

_Claymore: The Extra Ghost_

Chapter 2: The Yoki Wave

Audrey glanced behind her as Rachel moaned in pain. It was just their rotten luck that they had to be in this position; she paused and decided to let some words loose.

"We are not to say a word about being saved," she began,

"Why Audrey?" Rachel asked,

"If we do, they'll ask questions and we could be in danger. We'll tell them that we didn't see what killed Riful, ok."

"Jeez, if we have to." Rachel grumbled, "Still who saved us?"

"Probably like you said; the ghosts of the fallen warriors of the north." Audrey replied, as the younger two girls also came to and slowly rose. She told the others what she had planned and suggested that they go quietly and say not a word about the fact that there was a male half yoma walking the land again. The others had made a point about telling the Organization but Audrey pointed out a few key things that would happen if they did expose the existence of the male,

"One, we know that he is powerful, so there would be no hope of the Number 1 and Number 2 taking him on because fact one, he took out Riful, that I saw with my own eyes, fact two, we don't know a thing about the women that he is travelling with. We don't have enough to say that he is or isn't a threat, so we'll just say nothing for the time being." She pushed.

Her comrades reluctantly agreed with her and they decided that they would all return to Sutafu as if nothing had happened.

Meanwhile the ghosts of the north were making their move towards Rabona as Seto had picked up on a large yoki that was causing some trouble for a group of warriors. They were walking through the rain and were travelling along a route that seemed to make Miria unhappy. Seto paused.

"Hey looks like somebody's dropped a claymore, I wonder who's, I've never seen that mark." Helen said loudly

"Let me have that Helen." Miria commanded,

"Uh, sure do you know whose it is?" Helen asked Miria.

"It can't be," said Miria, "this is…" Miria had gone white, and she was shaking just a little bit, as she reflected on something that was clearly years ago.

She went up to the mountain and shoved the sword into the ground, Seto heard her say,

"I finally found your sword, though you had stopped carrying it by the time you reached the mountain,"

"Hey Miz Miria, hurry up or we'll leave you!" Helen called,

Miria turned to face them and then a soft smile formed on her face, and she took the point of the group, leading them on to Rabona.

That night while the others were resting, Seto stood facing the city that was called Rabona. It was the holy city and as far as he knew half yoma weren't allowed in its walls. He could sense at least one half yoma and something else that was like Riful, what Miria had taught him was an awakened being, monsters who were warriors who had lost the battle against the yoma half of their minds and were condemned to eat humans until they were kindly killed by either one like them or killed by a half yoma. Seto felt quite out of place amongst all of the women, he was sure that Tabitha had issues with his mere presence, made worse whenever he was near Miria, but for some strange reason he didn't know, he felt drawn to her as if there was more than mutual agreement and a similar way of thinking. He blushed as he thought over the last month, the first time they had been intimate and he felt a hot flush over his entire body. He had enjoyed it too much. He flinched as he remembered touching Miria, and how good it felt to hold her. Seto pushed the thoughts from his mind and focused on other things. He could sense a pair of warriors heading towards Rabona, one had to be quite small, or else she was very weak, her yoki was just a soft spark. She was scared and she didn't want to be doing whatever it was that she was doing. The other warrior was strong, almost as powerful as Riful in fact, and based on what he could see, she was very clingy to the weaker warrior. He was so absorbed by the yoki in the distance that he failed to notice Helen creep up on him.

"What cha doing there Seto?" She grinned evilly,

"Ugh, Helen leave me alone," Seto sighed, "it was so peaceful without you hanging around, you know that?"

"Hey, it's not my fault that I can't fail but notice you look pretty hot." Helen sniffed, "And that Miria gets all the fun."

Seto gaped at her, "No way, I said leave me alone Helen, unless you want to get into some serious trouble later."

Helen tilted her head as she tried to work out what Seto was talking about, she then realised that he'd slipped through her fingers again. She sighed and then headed back to camp.

Miria felt his light hand on her shoulder and was up in half an instant.

"What is it Seto?" She asked,

"Two warriors are heading to Rabona," He replied, "my guess is that they aren't after the awakened one, but rather the half yoma who is hiding in the city."

"I see." Miria replied, "We'll do what we can then."

"We have to go there!" Clare exclaimed, "Raki might be there!"

The whole group sighed and Clare continued to push it.

"Fine, we'll go to Rabona," said Miria, "only because the warriors will need our help to take out the awakened being that has made her home in the city."

The ghosts of the north rushed to Rabona with haste arriving in the nick of time.

"What a farce, I'm going to just level this place." Said the awakened being.

"I won't let you destroy this town it's important to me." Said Clare,

"Oh," said the awakened one, "who are you?"

"You don't need to know our names, because this is where you die." Clare replied.

"This is where _I_ die? Who do you think you are appearing out of nowhere and spouting nonsense like that?"

"There are eight legs supporting your body?" said Clare as if the being had said nothing at all, "That's a good number."

Seto saw Miria's signal and he rushed forward, cutting the nearest leg to himself. He saw Cynthia, Tabitha and Deneve hack up a leg each. He could sense Helen, Clare, Yuma and Miria each carve up the other four legs. He could hear the longhaired woman cry out, and he saw Miria catch her,

"She took out your eyes and an arm?" Miria inquired,

"No," said the longhaired woman, "my eyes have been like this for a long time…I've heard your voice before, you must be…"

"Sorry, but we'll talk later, right now there's something that we have to take care of first." Miria said as she pulled off her cloak, "I'll finish this in one strike; I've no reason to hold back against an awakened one."

"Heh, heh, heh," Helen grinned.

All of them had dropped their cloaks and were truly ready for a fight.

"Strong," The blond child said surely

"Eh," said the brunette claymore,

"All of them smell strong, but there are three of them smell really strong, those three are far beyond the others." The young longhaired warrior said

"Not bad for a bunch of small fry." Said Agatha, "You've gotten me to fight in my true form."

"Is she for real?" Helen screamed, "Her true form's that huge?"

Helen, Clare and Deneve all jumped away as Agatha struck at them.

"Clare, Deneve, cover me, I'll take off her head with the drill sword!" Helen yelled

"Wait don't be fooled she's…" Galatea began

"She was lying when she said that this was her true form," said Seto, "her true form is hiding in the abdomen, but it is shifting around to prevent us from targeting it." Seto cheerfully informed the others, "We'll have to take the true form's head and cut the hair connecting it to the awakened form if we want to finish her in one go."

"Well I never," said Galatea, voicing her approval, "I'm surprised that such a skilled reader is among you all."

"I must give you a word of thanks for your assessment." Seto replied, "Don't worry, we'll save this town."

"And I won't let another person die!" snarled Miria, as she rushed forward, cutting into Agatha's abdomen, using the new technique that she had spent a good part of seven years perfecting,

"GUH!"

"Where?" asked Miria,

"Upper body, left torso," Seto replied,

Cynthia and Yuma both sprung up and tried to get the strike however they were stopped by Agatha who used ribbons of her flesh to block them. Deneve jumped up and cut Agatha with her twin swords,

"Where?" she asked Seto,

"Right side moving shoulder to arm." He told them

"WAHOO!" cried Helen using the drill sword to drill apart Agatha's awakened arm.

Agatha cursed as she was cut off by Seto, who neatly hacked her apart before she had a chance to respond to the situation. The ghosts all sheathed their swords.

"You have a lot of wounds but thankfully none of them are life threating," said Cynthia, "Your arm was only just cut off so you should be able to regenerate it."

"Oh, ho, you're harmonizing your yoki to help me recover and regenerate, don't worry, I'm a defensive type, I can do that by myself." Galatea smiled,

"It's much faster when two people do it," Cynthia smiled sweetly, "Let me help you."

"NGH," sniffed Clarice, she was shaking with self-doubt, she didn't want to do what she had been ordered and yet she didn't want to disobey her orders.

"Oh, please, you wanna go dark hair?" Helen groaned,

"No her mission is to kill me," smiled Galatea, "Now that I have done what I needed to do you can have my life."

"Why? Why can't you be more evil?" Clarice cried, "How can I kill you after hearing you say that?"

Tears flowed down Clarice's face as she ploughed on, "Even if it is a direct order from the Organization…and the target is right in front of me…I don't know what I should do."

The warrior sobbed and cried her heart out,

"In that case, don't go back." Miria spoke so suddenly, it took a while for Clarice to process what she had just heard, "You certainly won't be able to return without executing Galatea, and they'll most certainly decide that you have disobeyed orders which is the same as treason to them, which means you'll be executed on the spot, and you won't be able to get away with saying that you couldn't find Galatea or that she escaped, so there is only one path, don't go back." She looked at the younger warrior, and explained the reasoning, so that she could understand what her decision cost her,

"But if we do that then we…"

"Yes, you'll be considered traitors and you'll be marked for death." Miria replied, "However if you stay in this city the Organization will not be able to get their hands on you easily. At least officially Rabona is holy ground."

"It's a temporary solution at best, if they felt like it the Organization could level the whole city as well as destroying us." Said Galatea,

"A temporary solution is all we need." Said Miria,

"What?" asked Galatea,

"We've come to destroy the Organization." Said Miria calmly

Galatea tilted her head, "I can't say much except that it is a reckless and foolish idea. To take revenge for the fallen warriors of the north, you're willing to cross blades with the current warriors? And what about the yoma? Even if humans despise us, we half yoma are the only ones who can dispose of yoma. In spite of all the unforgivable things that the Organization has done to us, the safety of the humans depends on them-"

"No, not really," said Seto, "as far as I know, this 'Organization' is responsible for yoma."

"What? How do you say that?"

"I might as well tell you everything I've learnt." Miria sighed,

"Everything you've learnt…" Galatea sounded confused,

"In rage after losing a friend, I sort revenge against the Organization, but I quickly perceived the problem that Galatea just described, and so while fulfilling my assigned duties I began to journey to the remote edges of the continent to gather information. At that time I had no criteria by which to judge them. It was then that I came across something disturbing," Miria took a breath and continued, "there was a place that was completely cut off from the rest of this island. They were quite shocked to see me, it was the first time that they heard what we have known for so long, that yoma had infested the land long ago, so I came up with a theory," Miria looked around them and continued, pushing on, "the yoma are created by the Organization themselves."

"Yoma are what?" all the others except Seto cried out. He knew what Miria had known, and for at least seven years now. He understood what she was saying.

"Think about what we've been told," said Miria, "they existed from long ago continually preying on humans, the greatest predators alive, but in reality who was it that told us those stories? In truth it was the yoma themselves, those within the Organization,"

"Such a wild theory based on one instance of a cut off village, there is no other proof…"

"There is proof," said Seto, "I would like to think that I am exhibit A and exhibit B would be so close that you wouldn't really notice it."

"What?" the others cried again,

"This claymore, isn't it a bit much for just killing yoma?" Miria questioned, "Not once in all the time that we have battled yoma has this blade been bent or broken, I've never even seen one get chipped. The way this blade is made, you would almost think that it was made for awakened beings or something even greater."

"Awakened beings…"

"Or something even greater…"

The others were in a state of shock and Miria explained that the claymore was just not possible to be produced in the land. Seto added that the world was a much larger place, that there were many continents. Miria went on to explain that there was a large war in another land that was greater than their own, and that the real reason that the warriors had been developed in the first place was to make a controllable awakened being, that their land was nothing but a test site for this.

After the whole truth and weight of Miria's discoveries sat on all the half yoma, it was decided that they would have to talk to the Rabonians in order to sort out what was to happen after such a swift battle. It was decided that the Rabonians would give the half yoma a place to hide and train for taking out the Organization. While Miria was working out the finer details with Father Vincent, Seto, Helen, Deneve, Yuma and Clare were all sitting with Cid and Galk having a drink. Helen was absolutely drunk and Seto was doing his best to avoid her. He decided to drink, but he didn't let it into his bloodstream. He needed a clear head whenever Helen was around, she was too much like Joey and that was a bad thing as far as he was concerned. Thankfully she didn't get too close to him, choosing to slump over Deneve instead,

"Hey you drinking Deneve?"

"Yes I am," the short haired warrior sighed. Then Helen stood up and started mucking around with a chair. Seto resisted the urge to laugh and draw attention to himself.

"Helen sure is having fun," Yuma sighed,

"She's drowning her sorrows," Deneve sighed, "After hearing all that she doesn't know how to take it."

"Oh, sure she doesn't but getting drunk isn't the answer." Seto growled, "I don't want her to close to me thanks."

"Interesting, I didn't think that Claymores could actually get drunk." Said Cid,

"Whether or not we get drunk is a matter of personal choice," said Clare, "We half yoma can eliminate poisons from our bodies at will. Conversely we can choose to let the alcohol enter our bloodstream."

"What about you, are you letting the alcohol into your bloodstream then?" Cid asked,

"Half of it, but it seems that I have a tolerance for it." Clare replied as she put down the glass, she spoke, "Actually there's something I wanted to ask you, which was the main reason why I insisted that we come to this town."

"It's about that kid who was with you last time, 'Raki' wasn't it?" Cid asked

"You mean…!" Clare was white faced and she was shaking,

"He's gotten pretty big since you last saw him, and he was hear about a year ago asking around for you. He was travelling with a little girl," said Cid,

"What we managed to find out was that he was travelling through the towns that both of you had passed through," said Galk, "I'm sure that you'll both see each other again."

Audrey was shaking from head to foot, damn she hated being called back to headquarters. Luckily enough for her Renée wasn't there, so she had some hope of lying to the men. It would be a nuisance if Raftella was there though; the anti-warrior could be a nightmare if she wanted to be, Audrey sighed and hoped that for her own sake her resolve held.

A young man walked through the desert with purpose, the small girl walking alongside him. She travelled to his pace easily, and he had been travelling pretty hard lately. He wasn't surprised that she didn't want to rest, nor that she didn't want anything to eat. As he looked at Priscilla, Raki wondered what she was thinking, she never really supplied much in the way of conversation, much like Clare all those years ago. He almost stopped as he thought of her, and then he began to wonder if he ort to be doing this. He knew that Clare had promised to find him, no matter what happened. He found himself picturing Clare from time to time, though his memories weren't as good as having her with him, they were the best that he had to work with. He pushed on again, sure that Clare's pace would be fast and he had a lot of ground to cover until tonight.

Miria sat in the room so kindly provided by the priests of Rabona, she wanted to run. The usual tightness coursed through her body and she wondered how long she could stand being cooped up within the cathedral walls. She paced around the room and was keyed up. She really wanted to run full tilt, and to go as far as she could until her body gave out. Instead she was forced to stay in the room until the second watch began, and that was a good five hours away. She paced again, not knowing what else to do.

Seto was bored, and he wanted to at least go somewhere without causing trouble. He was sure that the yoma half of himself was to blame. He decided to see if Miria was up to anything in particular, perhaps her company would be better than waiting it out for the second night watch.

Miria must have been pacing for a good hour or more when Seto came in. She was glad to see him. Soon the pair were calmly talking about nothing in particular, Seto was relaxed, something that he would never be around Helen, and he and Miria were comfortable just sitting together. She wasn't focusing too much on what they were doing, it mattered little to her anyway. She sighed and made a comment about wanting to run,

"Yeah, it would be nice, but I could think of a possible alternative." Seto said, then he went red.

"Oh, really?" Miria asked, grinning, "Well, I don't think that I would mind that in the slightest!"

She grinned and leant forward, her lips meeting his.

Seto wanted to pull back, but he wanted to pull her closer at the same time, the two needs tore at him and he wasn't sure which one he should listen to. He chose to deepen the kiss, slowly drawing Miria closer to him, his hands slowly working past her dress as she expertly flicked his shirt off.

Miria didn't need any light to guide her as she pulled closer to Seto, slowly working on getting his clothes off. She could feel his hands working her dress off and she didn't really care. Their clothing hit the floor with a soft thud. Miria kissed him again, and as the kiss progressed further, she moved her hands to his shoulders. Seven years had changed Seto since they had first met, he was a lot stronger across the shoulders now and as Miria traced the muscles of his shoulders, she explored the contours of his shoulder blades. She let out a low moan as he brushed her hips, pulling her closer to him,

"Oh, please, Seto," she moaned, "now, now,"

He chuckled and carried her over to the bed, kissing her passionately. Miria arced to him in response, her senses heightened, sharper. Her eyes glowed gold with anticipation, and Seto didn't disappoint. He teased her with his touch, and she repaid the teasing in kind, exploring him keeping her touch light and soft. She moaned whenever he touched a sensitive area on her body, and he moaned when she returned the touch, they kissed again and again, wanting to build up the other's anticipation. Miria was wet, and she was starting to pant, she leant back in to the bed and he lay beside her. She kissed him and then traced her way down his chest, teasing him as much as he teased her. Seto eagerly returned the kiss and teased her more than before, and Miria let out another low moan, and he slid in to her. The moan she let out was louder and it wasn't long before the pair were moaning in earnest.

Tabitha froze as the same sensation coursed through her body again, just as it had in Alphonse and she was astounded to notice that it was stronger than last time. She wondered what was going on when Galatea entered the room

"Tabitha, do you feel that?" she asked,

"Yes, I do." Tabitha replied,

"Whatever it is it is getting stronger." Said Galatea, "I have a feeling that if it gets much stronger…"

Galatea stopped as a large burst of yoki surged upwards. Tabitha blinked and felt a strange feeling in the pit of her stomach, she didn't know why but she felt like she wanted to moan from that yoki.

"Oh, my," said Galatea, "was that someone at their height of pleasure?"

Tabitha didn't know what Galatea meant.

Miria panted, and she lay on Seto's chest having freshly orgasmed. She was content to just lay there and enjoy his company after such powerful lovemaking. Now she knew how she was going to pass the first night watch, and she was sure that he wouldn't mind either. Miria drew in a deep breath and drew closer to him. It was nice to have a moment like this. She would soon have to sort out the plan to take out the Organization, but right now wasn't the time to do it.

Clare woke to a feeling that she couldn't explain, at first she thought that it was just a dream, but now that she had Helen, Cynthia, Yuma and Deneve all asking her if she felt the strange yoki release, Clare was forced to admit she not only felt it, she woke up because of it. Everyone went to Miria's room and was surprised to see that Miria wasn't there at all. They ran into Galatea and Tabitha, who were also trying to see what had made that yoki release. The warriors headed out side and were met by the sound of clashing blades. Miria and Seto were at it again. Those two were always sparring at every chance they had.

Miria wondered if everyone noticed the yoki release that had happened when she and Seto had orgasmed, and seriously hoped that it wasn't as noticeable as she thought it was. No one asked her about it and she was able to get away without saying too much about it. She wondered if it were possible to avoid the issue for a while since she didn't think that something like this could occur, certainly it hadn't been documented as happening before by the Organization, although Miria was more than willing to bet that the warriors back then kept that information to themselves. She wondered if there were any possibilities of a warrior getting pregnant for some strange reason.


	3. Chapter 3: The Phantom's Ambush

Claymore The Extra Ghost:

_Chapter 3: The Phantom's ambush_

Clare stood restlessly by the battlements, she wanted to desperately search for Raki, but there would be no such luck if she waited for Miria to say that they were moving out from Rabona. Clare wanted to curse because every moment that they stalled from travel was a moment that she wasn't going to be seeing Raki. She heard footsteps and swung around, it was almost as if Miria had read Clare's mind,

"So you want to head west Clare?" Miria asked,

"Miria I…"

"You should go and clear the lingering attachments from your heart," said Miria, much to the others' shock.

"Hey Miria…" Helen began,

"Not just Clare, but all of you, if there is something that you want to take care of, now would be the time to do it." Miria turned and looked at all of them, she was worried about the fact that the outcome of the battle to come and she didn't want anyone having second thoughts or regrets, "However if you are going to leave Rabona, you will need to be in groups of two or more,"

The others looked at Miria and Helen spoke, "It'll be pretty boring waiting for Clare to come back, and now that I think about it, I haven't been to my home town since I left…" she looped her arm around Deneve's shoulder, "How about it Deneve, you're home town's close to mine?"

"I don't care for that place, but if you're going, I might as well come." Deneve sighed.

"Cynthia, Tabitha, Yuma, what will you do?" Miria asked,

"I don't have a home town," said Cynthia,

"My home town is close to the Organization," said Yuma, "I don't think it'd be a good idea for me to go there right now."

"I will stay with you Captain Miria," said Tabitha, shooting a dagger look at Seto, as if he was the source of the latest amount of trouble, namely the weird yoki release that both she and Galatea had been trying to track.

Seto for his part looked absent minded, he wasn't really paying attention to Tabitha at all. The expression on his face was one that Helen would have loved to have painted if she could. Something seemed to be off with him, though Helen didn't know what.

"Fine, Seto, Yuma, you go with Clare to the west and Cynthia you can go with Deneve and Helen." Miria calmly stated,

"Understood," Cynthia replied

"What!" cried Clare, "Miria I'll be fine by myself…"

"I have already told you if you want to leave Rabona you will need to be in groups of two or more, you in particular Clare have the tenancy to get out of control. At least with others around you, you'll act more rationally."

Helen snicked, "Not just Yuma, but Miria's toy boy as well!"

"Hold your tongue Helen," Miria growled in warning.

Helen snickered away, amused by the fact that ever since that yoki release, Miria had been a little easier to push to annoyance than before and she seemed to dislike Helen making jokes about Seto being Miria's toy, although Helen felt that it was half true at any rate because Miria was certainly with Seto quite a bit, and there had been a few yoki releases that were enough to make the others want some of whatever it was that Miria was getting, especially Tabitha who was beginning to get rather jealous of the fact that Seto was the one that was alone with Miria for any length of time. It was only natural that when girls were together and there was a cute male around there was bound to be competition for the guy. Helen had wondered why Seto was with the group travelling with Clare and she came to a sudden realisation. Seto was by the book, exactly like Miria. Of course he had never really used his yoki at all, so he was different in that regard, but still…Helen had another thought, one that was interesting. She wondered if it was simply to keep her away from him. The last two weeks in Rabona had proved that. Miria and Seto had continued their hard work, training as often as they could. Helen had seen it with her own eyes. Of course Seto was no fun, avoiding Helen as much as humanly possible, so she couldn't really tell what he was doing with Miria and a quick sniff was out of the question. Helen wondered if she would ever figure out what was between Miria and Seto that was so "hush, hush".

By the time everyone was ready for their trips, Miria was almost sad to see them go. She was particularly depressed about seeing Seto go, something that she didn't think would happen. She felt like she'd wanted to cry when he left, and for Miria that wasn't a good thing. She waited in Rabona and as she had told them, she prayed for their safety and hoped that she would see them all alive again. It had been almost two weeks since they had left, and Miria felt something odd. She felt two powerful yokis surge in the west, so powerful in fact it almost blinded her ability to sense what was happening in the south at the same time. She was sure that the yoki in the south was Isley, the Silver Eyed King, and that somehow he had just been killed. She feared that the other powerful yoki was Seto's and that he was awakening, but once the commotion died down, so too did Seto's yoki. Galatea confirmed that he had pulled it back to suppression, and Miria felt a wave of relief, although she would never say it out loud because it would upset Tabitha, who seemed to be in a strange mood lately, and Miria didn't know why that was. Galatea then informed Miria that Alicia and Beth were on the move. Miria wanted to curse as she knew that the Organization would be at their most vulnerable. It would be the perfect time to attack, and yet she was trapped in Rabona.

Seto followed Clare and wondered if it was just him, or had Clare gotten colder as they travelled. They were in the western lands again and it seemed that Clare wanted to really kick in to gear. They had been travelling for almost two weeks, when they happened across Dauf, Riful's lover. He was in a state and a half, and Clare cursed, and unfortunately for them, drew Dauf's attention towards them. Seto had his work cut out for him and by the time he was done, Dauf lay in pieces on the ground. Clare glared at Seto, and Seto didn't know what she was so annoyed about. He looked at her in confusion and by the time he turned around, he realised that he felt a very powerful yoki behind him.

As he swung around to face it, he realised that it was just a small girl. She had dark hair and large brown eyes. She came forward and Clare sudden rushed forward, unleashing a technique that Seto hadn't seen before. Yuma was shaking as Clare tried to push her yoki up to a point that Miria had told Seto was awakening, a point at which a warrior could lose their mind. Seto acted quickly, and without thinking. He slashed the air with his wind sword, cutting the ground apart, but missing the girl it seemed. Then she began to change, her body growing and elongating. A horn protruded from her head, and her yoki release tore what clothing she had on apart.

"I only wanted to find that scent," her voice grated on Seto's nerves, "they took him, they took him and I only wanted to find that scent."

Seto managed to cut off her arms only to have them regrow. He didn't know why, but he lifted his own yoki. He knew at once that he had a fight on his hands. Sure he killed the one horned creature, but in the same token his body was out of control. He fought the urge with all of his might. This was almost as pleasurable as making love with Miria, but Seto knew that he had to fight this in a way that he didn't when he was making love to Miria. He strove for control and he could sense two powerful warriors rushing towards him with haste. Seto stayed in control, and he felt someone helping him. He managed to get his yoki down to twenty per cent and then slowly bring it back down from there. He was shaking slightly and he fell in to the grass, exhausted.

Helen, Cynthia and Deneve travelled together in to the south and they came across a strange scene. A group of warriors were trying to kill an awakened one, but they were losing the fight. Cynthia suggested that they help, despite Miria's watch words. Deneve sighed and they rushed to help the girls before they got killed. The single digit warrior was quick and sharp. She dodged the attempt of the former warriors' avoiding being knocked out by them. Helen wanted to curse, but they had more pressing matters to attend to. The battle was short and once they were finished they still had a single digit to deal with. A short conversation followed in which the warrior revealed that she was named Dietrich, and that they really shouldn't head further south because there was something strange prowling the southern lands. Helen made a shrug and the three continued, much to Dietrich's annoyance. She was a warrior of her word and always told the truth when asked. She didn't understand how they could ignore her warning, although if she was forced to be frank, they were as skilled as a single digit, so technically they were a group of three single digits, but that didn't change the fact that she had incurred a debt to them that had to be repaid, nor that they had headed south anyway. She wanted to curse, but she refrained from doing so. She followed them and found that they had a gruelling pace. She hadn't been forced to travel this fast, but she would stick to them. She was a good five hundred swords behind them, when a sound made her shiver and stop where she was. It was those things…the stuff of a warrior's nightmares. Dietrich was frozen in fear as their rattily breaths rung through the forest. She was shaking with undiluted fear, and she could hear several twigs snapping, and even some trees being stomped through. The unhealthy creatures were a creation of the Organization, and they were made to track down those awakened ones that the warriors couldn't kill, and kill them. Dietrich was hoping that they would pass without coming near her, but a head moved near her chest. It sniffed her once. Dietrich stared at its sewn mouth, its eyes were sewn shut, so that it would never physically see. She knew that these things, the Abyssal Feeders, were the most twisted creation to date. They barely had anything on their bodies, and they were larger than a human, roughly the size of small awakened ones. However in Dietrich's mind they were still twisted. Once it was satisfied that she wasn't the target it moved on. Dietrich moved slowly, shaking as she walked behind them. She had learnt that sudden movements were not a good idea as the creatures were bound to fight. She had learnt by watching that they regenerated swiftly, and protected their heads at all costs. It was something that she had seen for a while now. She had been hoping to avoid them, but if she was to follow them, then so be it. She followed them to their target.

Helen was walking slowly with Cynthia and Deneve, they were in a town with so many humans in it that they were forced to draw their hoods right up, obscuring their sliver eyes. The warrior back there hadn't really brought their lie, but it was worth a shot. Helen sighed. She turned to Deneve to say something when a large yoki hit her senses. She fell over on to her knees, _damn, it, it's as powerful as what Riful's was._ She wanted to curse, but Deneve spoke smoothly to _him_

"My sister isn't feeling very well," she said. She was trying to dodge his concern, in fact she was hoping that he would move on and leave them alone

Just when they thought they were safe he suddenly sung on them, sensing that they were warriors, he demanded to know why they were suppressing their yoki. Helen had seen Seto in action fighting Riful and she was sure that they would need Seto to face off with Isley, but he was in the west with Clare, by Miria's command. Isley revealed himself, and Helen Deneve and Cynthia prepared for the inevitable. They raised their blades in defence aiming to bide some time when they heard a strange sound. Isley cursed loudly and Helen wanted to gag at what she was seeing.

They were strange creatures indeed, their mouths were gaping open to reveal a set of fangs that were yoma like. The beasts emitted no yoki at all. Helen gaped at them as they shot past the warriors and straight to Isley. Isley rose in to his awakened form and fought them. Helen was shocked to see that the creatures were eating Isley. Isley was now busy. Helen and the others swiftly evacuated the people, getting them out of harm's way. Several people were shaking, but they were grateful that the "Claymores" were saving them. It was then that Helen saw that warrior from before, Dietrich. She was also helping with the evacuation, her comrades all carrying as many humans as they could out of the city and into the forest. Once the humans were all safe, Helen and the others corned Dietrich, only to discover that she was near enough to physically see what was going on, but far enough away that Isley hopefully wouldn't get them.

"Ok shorty, what the fuck are those things?" Helen demanded

"Helen," Cynthia gasped in shock,

"Those are the Organization's newest weapons," said Dietrich, emotionlessly, "they are designed to eat their targets, and I doubt that there are any from the original eleven that they first sent out. It seems that they are capable of hunting their pray through scent, and you would have noticed that they emit no yoki, though they regenerate at a fast pace. They protect their heads at all costs because that is the only way to kill them."

"So that's why Isley's in trouble." Said Cynthia, as Isley lost the fight and was slowly eaten alive.

"Yes, they have been at him for a while now," Dietrich told them, "they can't sense yoki, so if you stand still, they don't notice you."

"Would you be able to do us a favour please?" asked Cynthia, "Would you be as kind as to deliver a message for us, to Phantom Miria."

The younger warrior's eyes seemed to pop out of her head.

"Ph…Phantom…Miria…you're kidding right…THE PHANTOM MIRIA?" the younger warrior half flushed with a strange yoki release, "Phantom Miria, the former Number 6 said to surpass a Number 1 in group battle?"

She looked enthusiastically at them, and Deneve had to ask why Dietrich was so excited. The result wasn't to be expected. Dietrich cleared her throat, and she began.

_When I was just a little trainee, everyone knew that one of the best warriors, one of the kindest was the one they called Phantom Miria. Everyone wanted to be like her when they grew up, they wanted to be fast, to out run yoma and slay them with ease. They wanted to be as kind as she was, though some of us didn't know how that worked. Of all the warriors she was the best to do survival training, she was the most through, and those that knew her were truly privileged. I was one such lucky girl, though I couldn't run fast, she didn't mind. I learnt everything I could from her. I was the one the others envied, and it wasn't until Renée was brought in after her survival course that I wasn't on my own. The Miria that Renée knew was no different to the one I knew. So full of patience, so gentle to even the weakest of us. She didn't care about our hair colour, she didn't care if we found it hard to keep up, as she would adjust her pace accordingly. She was an incredible tactician, I doubt that Audrey could match Miria, or even Rachel. We were all horrified to hear that she was killed at Pieta, in the northern wars. So many of us were unable to thank her for what she taught us, and we doubted that anyone would ever match blades with her, if she were to live on._

"So you see, that's why I will do it," said Dietrich, "for old time's sake, and I have to see for myself how time has made things."

The three warriors looked at Dietrich in surprise. They didn't expect the younger generation to have heard of Miria, and yet it seemed that they had. They were astounded that Dietrich raced off, heading to Rabona without another word. All that was left for them to do was to head west, and see how Clare was fairing.

Miria had been calmly sitting in near the battlements on the cathedral roof when she heard the clomping of a nun's shoes. Slowly she came out in to the light and as she lifted off her habit, Miria resisted the urge to smile. Galatea never changed. Even though she wore a nun's dress she still had to have it perfect. Miria tilted her head,

"Some one's on the way here and they're on the meds," Galatea cheerfully in formed Miria,

"Where?" Miria shot back,

"Southern side of Rabona," the former Number 3 replied. Miria could have sworn that she heard Galatea sigh, but if she did then it was very softly.

Miria rushed straight to the southern side. She wasted no time in stopping the hooded figure,

"Give it up," said Miria, her sword at the person's neck, "did you honestly think you could get to Rabona?"

"Well," the warrior replied, "I didn't really come looking for a fight, I came to deliver a message, from the one called Cynthia,"

Miria lowered her sword, but not her guard. The warrior flicked off her hood. Miria blinked, surprised that it was none other than little Dietrich, although she wasn't so little anymore. She had grown in to a powerful warrior. A faint smile touched Miria's face,

"Ah, so it's you." she said,

"The message is as follows," said Dietrich, and Miria knew that formality was everything to this girl. She would have to wait until after Dietrich was finished, for any informality, "'we have headed west to assist Clare, and we should be able to find her and the one she seeks.'"

Miria nodded, and the idea came to her. It was most brilliant, although she didn't know if it would work.

"It has been a long time, but I'm afraid I cannot stay," Dietrich said sadly, "they are forcing my hand; so if we do meet again, I will have to draw my blade."

Miria nodded, and Dietrich left. The plan kept growing in Miria's mind. With Alicia and Beth out of the way, it was only a matter of time…and she knew at once what she had to do to save the younger warriors' lives. She knew at once. She waited for two days, and as Alicia showed no sign of leaving the western lands anytime soon, Miria quietly drew her own blade and cut down Tabitha. Tabitha was in a state of shock and disbelief. She didn't get words out of her mouth but the expression on her face was more than enough. Miria was glad that Galatea was blind. Miria walked away from Tabitha, but the sound of the girl landing on the ground was enough.

"Going to hell on your own violation huh?" asked Galatea,

Miria steeled her voice, making it hard and cold, "If you get in my way I'll cut you down too,"

"With my eyes like this, I can't really do anything," the former Number 3 replied

Miria calmly gathered her amour, something she hadn't worn in almost seven years. She pulled it on and was almost astounded that it felt so comfortable. As she sheathed her blade, Miria had an odd sense of déjà-vu and she quickly put that out of her head. She went straight to Sutafu, there wasn't any need to mess about.

By the time Cynthia Deneve and Helen all caught up with Clare, Yuma and Seto, Helen could sense that something was up. Seto was nervous and tense, and it seemed like he didn't want to say a word. It wasn't long until Clare told them the horrifying news.

"They've got Raki," she spat, "fuck it they've got Raki!"

No one really knew what Clare was saying until they came to a realisation, who else could have gotten Raki except the Organization. Helen gaped, and Seto suddenly tensed up,

"Rabona's in trouble," he called, "There are a lot of yoki heading towards it and I don't like the chance that they're going to be held back!"

With that the others raced to Rabona's aid once more.

It took them a week to get there and as they arrived, it seemed that they were in the nick of time. Tabitha was in trouble, and Miria was nowhere in sight. Seto was beginning to get worried as he did feel Miria use her yoki, but she wasn't here. She wasn't even near Rabona at all. He wanted to curse with frustration. He wanted to keep close to her, protect her, and now she had run in to her own danger and he'd been too far to save her. He unleased the wind sword in anger, blasting all the yoma and awakened ones apart. He was furious, and he knew what he had to do.

Once the battle was finished, a group meeting was called in which Seto told them he was going to Sutafu, with or without them. Clare said it was pointless for him to go there if he didn't know how to get there. She would guide him because she had to get Raki back. The others jumped in and it was decided that they would all go. Dietrich, Alicia and Beth decided that they too, would come with the "Ghosts". Galatea sighed, and said nothing. She knew that all hell was about to break loose and someone was going to get hurt. She hoped with all of her heart that they would all come back alive with Miria and Raki.

In the depths of Sutafu, Miria was regaining consciousness. She was hurt, but not dead. She felt the wounds as they bled, surprised that the younger warriors had refrained from killing her. She slowly reattached her left arm as the more vital wounds healed. The gash on her face had no hope of a swift recovery, she wouldn't have enough yoki for that. She wondered where she was and as she sat up, the current Number 3, Audrey came in with some water and some food. Miria sat up, wincing as she did so. Her left arm was nearly reattached, so by the time Audrey had brought the food to her, her left arm was working again. However she was still healing far too slowly for what she could do normally and Miria was a little worried about it. Audrey had brought Miria a rather nice and warm stew and a soft loaf of bread. Such a meal would normally keep Miria for a week, but she felt oddly hungry.

"Thank you," said Miria, eating the bread.

"It's the least we could do," Audrey winced as she looked at the damage that they had to do in order to fake the warrior's death from the men's point of view. The younger warriors had been sure that she was holding back, and they had partially witnessed the power that had simply cut them down, not willing to take a single life. Audrey had asked the young twins what it was like, crossing blades with her and they said that even though they had gone all out, she merely deflected their blades, trying not to hurt them, and one of the girls said that she was told that she would sleep for a little while, she realised then that the warrior was being serious, that she was being honest. Audrey had been shocked to hear that warrior call out to a comrade of the past, Raftella had told the others that the warrior was called Phantom Miria. The effect was like someone had set Sutafu on fire. The warriors were shocked and angry. They wanted to get the men back, and as Miria slowly recovered they wondered how they were going to do it. It would still be a while until the Number 7 and her team arrived from Alphonse. It was a hard call for Audrey, who was the unofficial Number 1 to her comrades. She was the point of call for the younger inexperienced warriors. It was more than often Audrey that was the strongest of her comrades that guided them. She felt a great weight on her shoulders, but she wondered how it would have felt at Pieta, when Miria was commanding her comrades at the time. Audrey realised that Miria was used to tight situations and a plan began to from in her mind. She wondered if Miria would be able help them. It would have to work, after all, thanks to Miria; the hearts of the entire generation had been moved. Audrey was sure that they would listen to Miria, and while she was at it, perhaps Miria could assess the warriors for their group battle ability. Audrey was surprised that Miria ate the whole loaf, and that she drunk the stew that the others had made for her. She then lay back down on the thick straw pile that the girls had made, sacrificing their own comfort for Miria, as the warriors weren't allowed beds unless they were seriously injured. Miria's eyes closed and she seemed to sleep, her breathing deep and even. The younger warriors had all wanted to see her at once, but it was at Audrey's insistence that they hold back so that the men didn't know that Miria hadn't died. There were some very eager girls that Audrey had to sit on their asses before they got the message about waiting until Audrey knew that it was safe to see Miria. Now that Miria was partially recovered Audrey decided that two at a time would be safe enough to see the Phantom. However she was going to need to recover more before it was safe for them all to see her at all. Audrey carefully left the room, closing the door behind her and hiding it behind a wall covering. She hoped that none of the men would find out about this little hidey hole that the warriors had made. She walked down the corridor and passed a handler, acting as if nothing was happening, and he passed the covering without even looking at it. Audrey kept her face smooth until she reached her comrades. She had plenty to do as it was. She called for order and spoke in a low tone the rules that the others were going to have to abide by if they wanted to see Phantom Miria. The girls made the promise enthusiastically.


	4. Chapter 4: Seto's Revenge

** Chapter 4: Seto's Revenge**

Miria slept and dreamed of Hilda. It was made worse by the fact that she had come so close to really holding her friend, just one more time, to cross blades with her would have been enough to ease years of heart ache. Miria woke wet and cold. She was shivering and felt a strange feeling. She carefully moved the straw, but she couldn't get comfortable as the straw was also wet. She felt ill, something she never felt before, certainly as a warrior. She didn't know where Audrey was as she couldn't really sense the girl's yoki. Miria sighed and tried to move the straw again, there was something that was going on and Miria was sure that she could sense something that was going on…

Seto followed Clare as they all travelled to Sutafu. The others had been looking at him strangely but Seto said nothing and certainly didn't do anything to draw attention to him, the others knew that something was up and Clare was surprised that Seto followed her without a word of complaint. It was clear to the others that Miria meant a lot to him, even if he denied that there was anything happening between them. Alicia and Beth had both tried to get him to be with them, but Seto avoided them with an air of pure distain much the same air that he used around Helen, who noticed that it had gotten more pronounced as they travelled. It was almost as if Seto could sense something that the others couldn't.

They were about half way to Sutafu when they encountered a group of warriors facing off with awakened beings. Alicia and Beth didn't need any prodding. Alicia sprung in to her awakened form however before she could kill any of the awakened beings, Seto unleased his sword technique killing all of the monsters in one stroke. The warrior who was leading the team looked at Seto with shock. She then saw the rest of the ghosts Dietrich, Alicia and Beth. She returned her gaze to Seto and tilted her head,

"I have many questions, but I guess that I'll just go with one for now, who exactly are all of you?" she looked like she was sincere,

"Feel free to guess," Seto replied, "I have a certain few people that I have to take care of before I answer to anything,"

The others looked at him but he seemed to be distracted. Seto however knew what he wanted. He was going to kill the men that were the cause of Miria's pain and he would do it swiftly.

Miria slowly got up. The wound on her face had healed now, she could feel it. She wondered what she was doing, but sometimes things just couldn't wait. Miria walked towards the door and froze as she heard footsteps. She backed towards the wet pile of straw. It was Audrey that entered. She was carrying some food. Miria had been thinking about food. She watched Audrey cautiously. Audrey placed the food in front of Miria and she sat across from the Phantom warrior. Miria's eyes never left Audrey's face.

"You can eat as much as you want," Audrey said, "it's not like they're going to notice it."

Miria's gaze remained on Audrey and the younger warrior's yoki showed signs that she was concerned about something. Miria sighed and ate. She tried not to eat too much, but her hunger was too great. As she ate Miria noticed that Audrey shifted the wet straw away. Another warrior arrived and she emptied a fresh load of clean straw in to a deep pile. Miria kept her senses as sharp as she could and she swore that she could hear a lot of frantic whispers and someone hissing at the others to be quiet. Miria felt another wave of exhaustion over take her and she lowered herself in to the straw pile. Her eyes closed and she slept.

"Audrey why can't we see her?" some of the girls whined while several other girls whined, "Please can we see her?"

"No, now be quiet, she's resting," Audrey hissed at her lower ranked comrades, her voice softened as she looked to her closest friend, "Rachel, can you go and get a blanket please, she's not controlling her body temperature as well as we'd hoped."

"Fine," Rachel grumbled, walking off in the general direction that was where blankets were kept. So far they had been able to hide the fact that the older warrior had survived, but the men were starting to get a little suspicious about what the warriors were doing in the middle of the night. Audrey had used training as an excuse saying that if they were able to train at night then they might not be so caught by surprise again. Audrey also had the younger warriors on her back desperate to see the one called "Phantom" Miria, although the older warrior was hardly up to seeing them. Audrey had a feeling that something was sapping the warrior of strength and power, although she didn't know what could have the ability to do so. Audrey had spent some time down in the archives trying to find out more about the Phantom without asking her outright. She soon discovered that Miria was one of the few warriors that was focused on speed and that there was only one other warrior like the Phantom. She was amazed that Miria's base speed was so high, and to manage such a feat without so much as any yoki would have required a tight training regimen, Miria's own self-discipline was enough that she wouldn't allow herself to eat more than a few mouthfuls even though Audrey was willing to bet the woman was starving with hunger. As she thought on it she felt someone right behind her. Audrey turned around and saw Rachel lean on a shelf,

"What is it Ray?" Audrey asked,

"What do you think it is, Aud," Rachel sighed, "they'll find out about her sooner or later you know that don't you?"

Rachel held a blanket in her hands; it looked thick enough to give Miria the warmth that her body couldn't seem to keep.

"Who wouldn't find out, what with all the fuss the younger warriors have been making?" Rachel added, "We can't keep taking this risk,"

"And it fails to come to your attention that she spared us." Audrey countered.

Three months had passed and as Dae walked into the grounds of Sutafu, he observed the warriors gathering together and seemingly bored and listless. They looked at him and returned their gaze elsewhere. He looked at a couple of them but they didn't linger. Dae was curious as to what caused them to decide to be like this. He entered the main reporting room and saw that the rest of the men were uptight and he half wondered why, but thought little of it. He wanted to make sure that the young man that they'd kidnaped had arrived. Dae was excited that they would have such a strong male to research on. The man had killed a normal yoma without breaking a sweat; he would make an awesome awakened being, if Dae could get what he wanted. He thought that something passed him, but on closer inspection it was just the wind blowing through the windows. He would have laughed at the paranoia that that had engulfed Sutafu. He walked over to Rimuto's chair and then whispered in to the man's ear so that the others wouldn't hear him. Rimuto looked at him and gave a curt nod. Dae smiled and headed to his chambers. He had the material that he wanted, and he would slowly bring the Number 1s to life, Rimuto had given him clearance and he couldn't wait.

The warriors all stood waiting and ready. They didn't know why Audrey had chosen to do it this way, but they were willing to follow Audrey's lead. The warriors shifted slightly, making sure that they looked like obedient girls. They could sense that there was something that was missing, as if someone was about to tell them what they so desperately wanted to know, to show them what they desperately wanted to see. The men gave them new orders, but no one wanted to carry them out. Then came a sound that the younger warriors wanted to hear; the steady clanking of a warrior's amour. They instinctively turned towards the sound, turning to face the men as a warrior stepped out, her long pale blond spikey hair flowing in the wind, her face bore a X shaped scar and her silver eyes gazed intensely at them. The younger warriors gazed upon the warrior that no one had been able to defeat, that no one could kill, despite the command of the Organization's men. The warrior stepped forward and for the first time they heard her voice without the soft coo that was obviously reserved for that comrade that she called out to.

"Let's go, it's our signal to revolt," The Phantom spoke and the warriors could feel a strange feeling, one that was born of unity, one that they had long since had, but was amplified by her presence. It was almost as if Miria was the one to give them all a cause to unite for. They all were ready and willing and that was the moment that they all decided as one to turn against their masters.

As the warriors walked forward, Miria heard a strange sound, one that made her gut turn. She didn't know what made that sound but she knew that it wouldn't bode well. Something told her that it was something that was really dangerous and bad. She cast a quick around her. The other warriors were all looking to her for guidance since Audrey had sad that she would follow Miria. Rachel had said that she would follow Audrey and the other warriors had all agreed to follow Audrey and Miria. The former Number 6 had felt this pressure before and she didn't enjoy it one bit. She knew that it was her duty to make sure that the girls lived, she would save as many as she could. Miria swore that she would save her comrades as much as she could. She knew that if they lived through this it would be the greatest achievement that she'd ever had a captain in her life. Miria turned forward and held her blade tighter. She would fight to the very death to save these girls, no questions asked.

Clare looked at Seto, his attacks were smooth and powerful, he killed the awakened beings, sparing the men that could control their yoki powers, even pulling them back in some cases. He was truly working as hard as he could to help the guys out, but he would still act like a warrior, as Miria had taught him. He paused as he felt Miria's yoki; she was going to need his help. He looked to his left and saw a young man get up shakily, he had been close to losing it, and Seto had tried the same move Clare'd used on him the young man pulling back thankful, Seto was glad that it had worked. The young man barely got to his feet when Clare crash tackled him and Seto could hear ribs breaking,

"Raki, Raki," Clare sobbed, the young man almost choking and wincing as Clare held him fast. He healed slowly, clearly an offensive type like Clare. Not that it bothered Seto. Raki slowly got up and looked at Seto,

"Thanks," he said slowly, once Clare had let him go. The man had pale blond hair that was in need of a cut. He looked friendly and he had a kind aura about him. Seto could see why Clare liked this guy so much that she was willing to turn the entire island over itself just to find him. It was no different to how Seto felt about Miria, and he had yet to find Miria. He couldn't really hide it that much anyway and he was sure that the others knew about it now. Clare's tears were almost gone, but Seto could sense a deep satisfaction in her yoki, she was glad to have found Raki even if he was a half yoma. She wouldn't be mad at Raki, but he could see that she was mad at someone else, that someone else Seto knew he was going to get himself.

"It was nothing," Seto turned away and looked towards Sutafu; he could sense something that Clare and Raki couldn't. He was more focused on the task that was at hand and he knew that Miria was leading the younger warriors against their former masters. He looked at the rest of the group,

"We should hurry; it seems that our comrades may be in danger," he told them, pausing mentally as he realised that he was talking like Miria, but moving forward all the same, the purpose was the same anyway. The others hastened to follow him as Seto followed his senses. Raki easily kept up with Seto and it was clear to the others that Raki was like Seto, a warrior in a strange way. Seto guessed that Raki had at one point actually been trained as a warrior, which was interesting to note. However Seto knew that he had work to do and his focus kicked in. He wasn't going to let Miria down.

Meanwhile the fight between Miria and the abyssal feeders ran on and on. Miria didn't know why but it felt like she was being slowly drained of power and strength, and she didn't know why. She almost fell over with weariness, but forced herself to stand up and fight. The others were fighting as hard as they could to take out the damned creatures that they were up against. Miria looked to see which groups would need her help and jumped in to Audrey's group to support them. She slammed in to the monster and took off its head before it knew what hit it. Miria felt her body want to keep falling but the younger warriors needed her. She kicked off the ground hard and moved to the next group. The warriors seemed to ride on Miria's movements, fighting like their lives depended on making Miria proud. She didn't know why but she felt an odd feeling, like something was going to happen and she would need Seto more than ever before. They were lucky that the twins were taking care of the rest of the trainees, or else Miria would be having a fit. Her blade slammed through yet another neck and she wanted to sigh. She had counted at least twelve of the creatures and it was hard to tell which ones were dead or alive. She had noticed that they slowly learned how to combat the warriors and Miria drew in a deep breath when suddenly the last of the monsters fell, leaving Miria free to see how the others were fairing, and barely enough time to doge the attack that would have killed her. as it was Miria dodged to the side of the strange warrior, only to have the woman right alongside of her, the warrior's pale blond hair swaying in the wind as Miria jumped and dodged, leaping high flipping and landing on to the ground with a smooth thud. She looked up at the warrior and realised that she knew who the warrior was, a warrior that was very elegant and one that Miria had admired since she first read about her. Miria's eyes widened in surprise and she jumped away as the woman's next attack came. Miria focused on using as little of her yoki as possible, and as much base speed as possible. Miria landed a blow to the warrior's shoulder and the warrior cursed loudly. Miria gazed in to the strange silver eyes, something was clearly wrong with the warrior.

Again and again Hysteria tried to strike down the damned warrior, her annoyance was beyond anything that was to be measured. The warrior seemed to know her in some way, as the expression on her face had been one of pure surprise. Hysteria had felt that it was her chance, but the warrior stepped aside as she struck, cutting in to Hysteria's shoulder deeply.

"FUCK!" Hysteria cursed, no one had cut her even once. She looked at the warrior and felt the strangest of things. She realised that she didn't even know her own name, and that the rest of her head was hazy, she had no idea what was going on and she couldn't recall why she had the feeling that she had to kill the warriors that were here. Yet when she looked at that warrior, she felt something. She didn't know what it was but she actually felt something.

The rest of the warriors paused and stared as the two "phantoms" battled it out, for Audrey it was the most amazing sight, Hysteria pushing her yoki up in a way that Miria's didn't. It was as if Miria was the faster with her base speed than Hysteria. All the younger warriors stared as Miria slashed Hysteria across the chest, only to have Roxanne and Cassandra the Dusteater after her. Miria jumped and cut Roxanne down, dodging Cassandra's sword technique and slashing Cassandra's back. Miria slid and almost fell over, as if she was exhausted. It was then that something happened. Miria turned swiftly and then she grabbed the closest girls and threw them away, barely dodging the awakening Cassandra by a hair's breadth. She managed to get the weaker warriors away before the other two warriors awakened. She forced herself to be at the ready, stopping one of Cassandra's heads as it flung towards the younger warriors. Some of the lower ranked warriors were freezing up with fear. Miria knew what she had to do,

"Don't freeze up, get the trainees and get as far away as you can!" Miria cried, "I'll hold them back!"

The warriors backed away, but they refused to leave Miria to face the three beings on her own as she was proposing to do. A harsh wind blew across Sutafu and Miria felt a deep yoki head towards them. She knew that it was Seto, and he wasn't alone, he had the rest of her comrades from the north with him. Miria managed to dodge by a hair's breadth the attack that came from Cassandra when a powerful being intercepted. Miria knew at once that it was Alicia, and she watched in sickened fascination as Alicia's awakened blades moved to cut Cassandra apart. Miria looked around her and noticed that Seto wasn't far behind; Beth alongside him looking determined to do some damage. Miria had only half a second to realise what was going on before Seto pulled her in to his arms, embracing her. She instinctively leant into it, not knowing why she did in the first place, as impulsive as it was it felt right. She could feel his right arm swing the claymore that he carried, swiftly killing the three awakened beings that had been three former Number 1s that had given Miria hell. She felt weak and knew that she didn't have much left in her. She fell and the world was black once more.

"Miria," he murmured, she rested in his arms, sleeping. He carefully harmonized his yoki with Miria's but she was just too tired and drained to respond to him. He put her blade on the left and sheathed his own sword. He then picked Miria up and carried her. He knew what she had tried to do, and he would make sure that he finished what she'd started. He carried her away as the rest of the warriors all caught up to the carnage that was three creatures of the abyss.

Helen looked around for Seto and Miria, but she couldn't see either. Alicia and Beth went to race away but were stopped by the younger warriors who'd never actually seen them. Deneve would have gotten away, but they were surrounded by the younger warriors. Helen had to endure what felt like hours of questions before they were able to go. By the time they got in to the buildings that made up Sutafu it was an absolute blood bath. Men lay in pieces and as Helen followed the trail of blood she came across Rubel. They were lucky that Raki had Clare's right arm or else she'd've done something to the old man _before_ they found out where Miria and Seto were. He told them what had happened and Clare smashed him with her left hand, smashing his skull and making him bleed all over the floor. Rubel died by Clare's final blow and the rest of the warriors followed the trail of blood. Raki looked at Clare and then Helen shrugged, "We all want to get our handlers back," Helen said, "I guess that Clare has been wanting to do that for years, right Clare?"

Clare just looked stoically at Helen, her face impassive. Raki tilted his head and then he looked elsewhere. He didn't understand and he felt that it was best that he stayed out of it. It wasn't his place to comment on it.

Seto balanced his sword and calmly rested close to Miria, she was resting, her breathing deep and even. A slight smile crossed his face as he thought about the small yoki that they had both felt. Miria hadn't been too surprised; she explained that she thought as much, based on deduction and reading the archives had helped. He smiled to himself for a small while, but the smile disappeared as he sensed Helen and the others heading towards them. All they had really wanted was some peace, but he guessed that whatever the others wanted it was important to say the least. He sighed, thinking about the close call that he'd had. Just thinking about it sent shivers down his spine; Miria had been surprised that he'd pulled back, but she was glad in the same token. He'd laid Miria on the bed and she'd fallen asleep, while he sat alongside her, resting on the uneven ground next to her. In all the time that he'd known her, Miria hadn't really changed. He closed his eyes and decided that he should get some rest too, especially since Miria suggested that it might be a good idea.

The ground shifted and moved, slowly changing and the wind flowed over it, he ran looking for his younger brother like always. As he ran he saw a figure up ahead,

"Mokuba!" he cried, "Mokuba,"

The figure suddenly turned,

"Seto," the boy ran to him, "Seto, where are you, big brother?"

"Mokuba!" Seto called, "I'm here, Mokuba!"

The young boy walked towards the sound of his voice. He froze when he saw Seto then he ran forward crying,

"Seto," he sobbed, "I missed you, why is your hair so different, what happened?"

Seto went to respond to his little brother when the wind blew fiercer, it knocked both of them and Seto fell, Mokuba's grip failed and Seto fell back. He cried out to his younger brother, but the wind took his words away, the gale cutting deeply into sun and the whole world turned away from him, pushing him further away from Mokuba. He was scared for his younger brother, whose voice was fading away. Seto yelled as loud as he could but it wasn't enough. Mokuba would never hear him again, not even in his dreams.

He woke with a start, he had his back against his sword and he realised that he'd had that dream again. The one in which Mokuba featured in since he'd come in to this strange world. He sighed and wondered what he was thinking about Mokuba for when it was clear that there was no way that he'd ever see the boy again. He got up quickly, Miria was on the bed still, her eyes were open, but she looked tired. It was in that moment that Helen chose to storm in, slamming the door almost off the hinges,

"Wake up sleepy heads!" Helen yelled

Miria glared at Helen and she slowly got up. Helen tilted her head and then found herself backing away, though she didn't know why. Once she was out of ear shot Miria took Seto's arm and they both left the room. There was no real need to worry about what was going to happen next…almost. Seto and Miria both headed out to where the rest of the warriors were, Miria sighed and lent on Seto, relaxed and tired at the same time. As they looked around them it was clear that all of the warriors and trainees had been talking and mixing. A longhaired warrior looked like she was trying to heal up wounds in her body. Seto looked to Miria as he didn't know what the next course of action was going to be. Miria looked at him and he felt her shrug,

"Take it as it is," she said softly, "we'll need everyone's help to clear the island,"

He nodded and looked sadly at the young girls. He felt that killing the men hadn't been enough; it would never repay the pain and suffering that the girls went through. He looked away and happened to meet Deneve's eyes. She looked at him with an unreadable expression and he sighed. To him the real troubles had only just begun. He didn't know if it was just him, or what Miria planned to do now. He would move forwards with her as his future now lay here in this would. Who knew what was going to happen next. Seto felt the small yoki stir a little, but it lowered just as quickly. Whatever happened everyone would now face it together.


	5. Chapter 5: Miria's New Life Begins

Seto looked at the gathered claymores and he swore that he could sense something going on. He look at Miria and realised that she was sleeping on his shoulder, her strength giving out and he knew that she was doing the hardest task of all. He sighed and looked at the warriors that had been through hell and back. There were many that he didn't know and many that were all looking at him funnily. Seto sighed and went to pick Miria up when there was a loud yell,

"He did what?" and there was the sight of a small claymore making her way around the gathered warriors, her face pinched with worry. She looked like Yuganna, his sweet little cousin, and when he met her eyes, he realised that she was very different from Yuganna as it was possible to be. Seto could barely make out a yoki that was larger than his own, it was suppressed and deep. The warrior looked at him, curious and she came over. Seto became aware that her yoki was indeed far more powerful than the awakened being that he'd faced with Clare, and that this warrior was well aware of what was going on.

"I see, you are the one that ended the one horned creature," her voice was soft, so soft that Seto barely heard it. She was small like Yuganna, not just tiny framed, but short as well. Seto wouldn't doubt that she was older than him in more ways than one. He looked at her and he realised that her focus was on Miria, and then with the swish of her pale blond hair she walked away without even a word, almost as if she'd seen what she wanted to see and felt out of place with all the others around her. Seto sighed and carried Miria over to a room so that she could sleep in peace. He could hear the warriors talking and wondering what to do with the men that had arrived at Sutafu, indeed Seto even wondered why they had come here. He didn't think that there would be much to tell the warriors but perhaps there was more to the mystery than what Seto knew. He'd seen the Dragonkin with his own eyes and had seen Rimuto's reaction to him.

_The old man stood open mouthed that Miria had even done the unthinkable, and even when her hand moved protectively over her stomach it had taken Rimuto a while to realise why it was,_

"_So it seems that even with the yoma's flesh warriors can carry," he mused to himself._

_Seto had shifted protectively in front of Miria, his senses heightened, "Shut up you bastard," he snarled, "it's because of you that the warriors here want you dead and gone,"_

_He looked at them, "Certainly I'd have thought that she would have kept you human, I didn't expect-"_

"_There was no choice, the hole in his leg at the time, though bleeding was partially blocked by yoma's flesh, it seems that the yoma speared him and somehow that part that speared in to him was stopping the worst of the blood flow that surely would have killed him, no thanks to you Rimuto. I would almost think the yoma put it there deliberately. I couldn't remove it, not without killing him and the yoma flesh was fusing in to the wound, so I was forced to use the rest of it."_

"_Not that it matters now because you are going to die here," Seto charged at Rimuto while Miria killed the Dragonkin, both being quick and ending it in a few seconds. Seto looked to see that Miria was doubled over looking pale and green,_

"_Miria!" he ran to her side as Miria struggled not to throw up,_

"_I'm fine, it's just the effect of the baby," Miria gripped her head in her hands and breathed slowly, "I still haven't completely figured out why though,"_

"_You might need some rest," Seto suggested as he steadied Miria. She leant in to his arms and sighed, she was tired and glad that it was almost all over._

When Miria woke she was in a soft bed and Seto was dozing by her side, she sat up and realised that she was feeling quite hungry. She tried not to wake Seto up, but he stirred the moment that she moved,

"How did you sleep?" he asked her, a small smile on his face,

"What do you mean by that Seto Kaiba?" Miria asked, using his full name and her strongest "Captain Miria" face that she could muster, the one when she wanted to know exactly what was going on and someone like Helen was the cause of trouble that she didn't know about

"Well my love, you were talking in your sleep," he said gently, holding her hand between his, "it sounded like you were going to kill someone for something that they had done."

Miria looked at Seto and noticed something didn't quite stack up; there was something that he wasn't saying and it was irritating her to no end.

"What did I say?" she asked him, half afraid to hear what he was going to say,

"You said that you were going to kill "Ophelia" if she ever came anywhere near the baby or I," he looked at her and Miria noticed that there was a look that she hadn't seen on his face before, the look that almost said, "I'll protect the child too,"

"Then what happened?" Miria asked, curious now,

"Well, after that you kept saying Hilda, and then you went quiet, must have been when I dozed off, and now you're awake," he smiled, and Miria stretched intending to get up when the baby kicked. The effect was instantaneous; Seto's hand brushed her stomach while Miria was still. Both exchanged smiles and then the moment dissolved to have Seto head out to get Miria some food, much to Miria's surprise. Helen was nowhere in Miria's range but that didn't mean anything to Miria. She smelt something rather tasty being brought to her.

Seto carried some food; surely Miria was going to need it if she was carrying a baby. Seto could go a week without food, he knew as much. He might feel hungry looking at the food, but he knew that he didn't need it. He gave Miria the food and once she'd finished she looked at him,

"We shouldn't stay here," she said her face serious looking,

"You want to go somewhere else?" Seto asked her,

"South," said Miria, "deep in the south west,"

He nodded and then went after some amour. He was going to need it as much as Miria was going to need a change of clothes. He didn't doubt that Miria was very uncomfortable with what she was wearing at the moment. He looked around and searched for something that would fit Miria. He found what he was looking for and then more digging and searching he came across male style yoma hybrid amour. Seto pulled it on and it fit him perfectly. He sheathed his unmarked claymore and carried the clothing that Miria was going to need in a sack so that the others wouldn't be aware of what he and Miria were planning to do. To them it would seem as if Seto was carrying a spare set of amour for himself. Or rather he was hoping that was what they would assume. He didn't know what they would think. He hoped that they wouldn't notice as he slipped over to where Miria was. The sack was light despite the fact that Seto had packed it to the brim. He had a few clothes for both Miria and the baby when it came. He slipped in to the room where Miria was resting and showed her what he had. Miria quickly and gratefully changed out of her amour. She pulled the dark cloak over her head and Seto looked to make sure that they were going to be able to get out without being noticed. The warriors had all gathered together in the main hall of Sutafu, so if Seto and Miria were to leave now it wouldn't be noticed.

The warriors all assembled to decide what to do about the awakened beings and the rest of the yoma that were created by the Organization. Not one of them noticed a certain small warrior leave the room. She had sensed what they couldn't, and had decided to help those who wished to hide away do so. Not even the small group of comrades that were close to her noticed The Silent warrior leave. They were busily discussing what was going on, how many awakened ones needed to be slayed and which ones needed a team to take them out. After many hours of discussion later, the small group of warriors, Bella the Graceful, Leah the Rash, Heather the Heartless, Blind Meg and Soft Heart Claire all noticed The Silent Chloey's absence.

"She's gone!" Heather cried her frontal braided bangs swinging as she looked left and right in quick succession, "Chloey's gone!"

The other warriors froze and took in the tall long haired warrior. She was shaking like a leaf, it was clear that to Heather, Chloey was her all, and even Bella and Leah were both worried. Meg didn't care, indeed she was calm,

"More likely the talking bored Chloey to tears and she's gone to face off with the awakened beings on her own," Meg smirked,

"Meg!" Claire her twin sister called,

"What that's what I would have done," said Meg, "and you know I would Claire,"

Miria was surprised that Chloey insisted on going with them. Seto didn't fight the small warrior which made Miria curious enough to ask a question,

"Why didn't you bother with an argument Seto?" Miria asked,

"She reminds me of someone that looks similar to her," Seto replied, "a certain cousin of mine who went missing some time ago,"

"Oh," Miria's eyes widened, "was she…older than you?"

"No, she was much younger than I was, barely 5 years old when she disappeared, no one found her, though most of the people from my world scoured the entire continent that I lived on trying to find her."

"I see," said The Silent warrior, "she would have been about my size then, for you to think that I looked like her?"

"I guess you could say that you look like her if she was all grown up. Though you have silver eyes to her pale blue,"

"My eyes were blue when I was human," Chloey replied,

"Your nature is what makes me think that you're different," Seto stopped to give Miria a chance to rest, "Yuganna was a little ball of raw energy, and she would have remained like that I think for a very long time,"

"I see, so I merely resemble this cousin of your's, not in personality, but rather in how I look." Chloey sat and sheathed her blade, "We'd better rest, Miria won't be able to travel much further today,"

Miria went to protest that they had a lot of ground to cover, but she yawned instead, which was countering what she wanted to achieve. She found herself resting on Seto's shoulder as he put both their blades in to the ground, sitting down near one of them. Miria fell asleep not long after they'd sat down for the night.

The next day was hard. The baby was draining Miria of the strength that she needed to keep going. She didn't complain, but she was surprised that neither Chloey nor Seto complained about the slow pace that they were travelling at. Indeed Chloey seemed happy with how far they'd gotten and Seto was relaxed. Miria almost collapsed when Chloey called for camp. Of course Chloey's white wolf Kate was with them and had been since they'd set off, almost a week ago now. Miria's stomach had grown in that time enough that it was clear that she was going to have a baby now. Most of the time Miria didn't mind it, but the journey was taking too long for her liking. She heaved a sigh and fell asleep on Seto's shoulder as she had done for the past week.

The warriors had been moving steadily around the island. So far with the help of Deneve and the rest of the warriors who'd spent their time training hard they'd killed most of the yoma and left over awakened beings. They came to Rabona to regroup and plan their next move. It was interesting for all the younger warriors to meet Galatea, and it was amazing to see Galatea deal with the influx of children in to the walls of Rabona. She was calm and surprised by the sheer number of young ones. She took all the young half yoma under her wings. She still cared for the human children, who were scared of the half yoma children at first. Once the children got used to the young half yoma, and discovered that they were no different from normal people, games soon became highly inclusive, with the former trainees being treated like humans and not monsters.

The older half yoma were also busy getting used to not being ordered to get a move on and having to work closer with humans. It was a strange time for all that were involved, but soon a system was developed where the "Claymores" were used to help guard valuables and people who were travelling out of Rabona. Some of the half yoma were beginning to move about, mostly to their home towns to see if things had changed since they'd been forced away. Some even settled down and got married.

Yet for all the changes there were still humans that continued to distrust the half yoma. Tabitha was travelling to yet another town, searching for Miria. It had been almost six months since any one had seen or heard from Miria or Seto. Even The Silent Chloey had disappeared without any real trace. Tabitha wasn't alone. She was travelling with Clare, Raki, Cynthia and Yuma. Deneve, Helen, Audrey and Rachel made up another travelling group, all searching for Miria. So far no one had found any trace of the three half yoma. Tabitha was close to giving up when something came out from a bush.

"Tabby," cried Miata,

"Miata, wait!" Clarice was huffing and puffing. She had been trying to keep Miata out of trouble; something that she couldn't have known would end up being nearly a waste of time,

"Hello Clarice, Miata," Tabitha greeted the two warriors. Clarice looked up,

"Oh, still no sign of Captain Miria," Clarice asked,

"None," said Tabitha sounding depressed,

"Well Miata might be able to help," said Galatea from the cathedral door, "or have you forgotten what she can do?"

Tabitha looked at Miata and Clarice and a plan was in her mind before she knew what she was even thinking. Of course Miata would be able to find Miria.

Miria was hanging out the washing with Chloey; she was close to having the baby. Seto was out killing what was the last awakened being and Chloey had decided that she wasn't needed. Miria was glad that she had company, but she was still worried about Seto. He was only new to releasing yoki at all and Miria didn't want to lose him. However if Chloey was happy not to go with him then it meant that she felt that Seto was going to be fine.

Miria suddenly doubled over with pain. She was glad that the last of the washing had been done, or else she'd have to stay outside.

"I think I'll have to call it a day Chloey," Miria spoke as another wave of pain made her want to almost fall to her knees,

"I believe that it might be a good idea Miria," Chloey replied, "I will have to get a midwife if this keeps up,"

Miria didn't question Chloey in the slightest. Chloey was sensitive enough to know what was going on anyway, so she would most likely know what was going on. Chloey made sure that Miria made it back inside the house and once she was sure that Miria was comfortable, ran to get a midwife.

Seto lifted up his blade and flicked the purple blood off of the sword. The last awakened being was now dead. There would be no more yoma or awakened beings. He picked up pain in Miria's yoki and realised that what they had been waiting for might be happening. Seto bolted as hard as he could, he didn't want to miss the possible birth of his child.

Chloey had felt the monster die and knew that Seto was on his way. He moved quite fast and Chloey knew that in another hour and a half he would arrive, especially at the speed that he was heading at now. The small warrior smiled as she felt happy for the pair. For both their sakes, Chloey hoped that Miria would be ok, and that Seto would arrive in time for what they'd been waiting for. Chloey entered the house of the midwife and prepared to say more words then what was normal for her.


End file.
